Post by Admin on Aug 23, 2020 3:08:49 GMT
The Courtship of Richard and Arianna: Part 1 (Richard, Arianna, Tarik) (Staff Office)
(OOC: Combined threads of the previous site)
TARIK SADAKI
Tarik opened the note he had just received via Owl post. It was addressed to him. The first note had another one inside of it addressed to his sister Arianna. He froze when the words became clear. His older brother Khalid, official Head of the family, was informing him that he had contracted for Arianna to be wed in one year to an un-named person.
The council had never declared Khalid as a Dark Wizard, so even know the man had stayed out of their lives for years, he still had the right to decide Arianna's future. She was a widow and thus should have been afforded the curacy to stay unmarried if she wished. Apparently, his brother saw this differently.
Tarik inwardly cringed. He had been patiently waiting for Richard to ask for Arianna's hand in marriage. Now that Khalid had a contract, if he did actually have one, it would not make much difference what Richard did, unless the un-named person agreed to break the contract. Arianna was going to be furious about the whole situation.
Shaking his head he picked up a quill and a piece of parchment and penned a note to his sister, asking her to stop by at her earliest convince. Opening the door to his office he stopped the first house elf walking by and asked if he would please deliver the note to Professor Sadiki in the library. Arianna had taken on the job as librarian to be close to the school and those in it.
(OOC: This thread starts in Tarik's private apartment at Hogwarts. Part 2 takes place in Great Hall.)
Arianna Sadaki
Finally, all the books were put away, the table straightened and the scraps of parchment lying on them were collected. Arianna never through any of these pieces of stray parchment away no matter how crinkled, torn or dilapidated they were, because invariably, one of the students would come in the next day and ask if she had found their class notes.
She had almost reached her desk when the Owl glided through the open window. It placed a piece of parchment on her desk and quickly left. Whoever had sent the note was not expecting an answer. Unfolding the note, she smiled. It was from Tarik. Usually they saw each other to say good night but when she looked at the clock on the wall, it was only 8:00 and Tarik never went to bed before midnight. The man did not seem to need more than four hours sleep to be able to get though a day. The library was closed, for the night so she headed for Tarik's private quarters in the Professor wing of the castle.
Knocking quietly on the door caused it to swing open. "Hello brother, why the note?" she asked as she entered the room. Tarik was standing in the middle of the main area with his hands gasped behind his back. He gave the impression he had been pacing. Arianna did not have a good feeling about this. Normally her brother was very even tempered and took life's hills and valleys with ease. He never paced…. Except for now.
Ari sat in the chair he waved her to, and took the piece of folded parchment he handed her. The seal had not been broken, so he had not written it. Looking at the wax seal she took in a deep breath. It was Khalid's seal. Opening it she read the message, getting angrier by the moment.
"How dare he," she said mostly to herself. Looking at her brother she asked, "Can he do this?" knowing full well he could. "I will not stand for it…. He has no right…. I am a widow and thus should be given the right to choose if I even want to get married again." She had stood up and now she was pacing, "We do not hear from him for years and all of a sudden he has decided to pull his rights as head of the family and marry me off to…." She looked at the note, "he doesn't even say who I am to be married to." Arianna ripped up the note and through it on the floor, where it promptly put itself back together and floated to in front of her, at her waist level. "Oh this is ridiculous," she tore the note again into smaller pieces and through it in the fire, which Tarik always had burning. The pieces floated out of the fire, reassembled themselves and the note floated to in front of her. Staring at it, she grabbed the paper, crumpled it up and stuffed it into her pocket. Glaring at Tarik she said, "I won't do this, Tarik. I flatly refuse." She fell into the chair, because in her heart she knew she would have to follow the law of her land. Her only chance was if the man decided to break the contract. But her brother had not deemed it necessary to let her know who he was.
As Arianna sat in the chair, Richard's face came into her mind. There was nothing romantic between them, at least nothing, you could solidly put your finger on, but still feelings were there. If she accepted Khalid's declaration, then she and Richard would have to go back to being only friends. It would not be fair to either of them to keep the feelings growing as if they had been. Ari looked at her watch. It was 8:30. Richard would have been at the door to the library by now to walk her to the Staff Room for a cup of tea and then to her apartments.
"Tarik can you send an Owl please to the door of the library and give Richard a message to meet me here." Arianna blushed just a little at the look her brother gave her. "Don't look that way you know we go for tea and then he walks me to my rooms." Tarik had nodded and sent the owl. When the owl had left, Ari turned to her brother and with sad eyes asked, "What are we going to do … I do not want to marry someone Khalid chooses."
Tarik
Tarik took the chair across from Arianna in the seating area and tried to comfort her. "I do not know, sister, but we will figure out something. Sasha should be here soon and she was always good at figuring a way out of tight problems."
He could not sit still for long. Again he got up and started pacing, slamming his hands together behind his back. "If we knew who the man was it would help. I have never even had a report of someone who would want to make a contract for you." Pausing he quickly added, "Not that anyone would not be thrilled to have you as a wife, Ari," When he received the half smile, he started to pace again. "I cannot put any pressure on Khalid, because even to contact him and have a meeting, would put me in jeopardy of being thought of as going over to the other side. When I was translating for Daniel Marsden, I had some close calls of being accused of aiding and abetting the enemy."
"I might be able to put some pressure on the man, if I knew who he was. If he had already been prescribed as a Dark Wizard that would take care of the situation immediately. If not maybe there is something else which would satisfy the man's needs to be part of the family."
Tarik walked over and again tried to sit, but after a few seconds, he was up again. He did not think well sitting down. "How about something to drink? I have some Egyptian Tea steeping at the moment." Tarik walked over to the small stove on the back wall of this apartment and made two cups of the very special tea from their homeland. Walking back he handed one to Ari and took a sip. The tea always helped to calm him down. "Maybe we can…." a knock at the door stopped his thought. Waving his hand he said "Enter," as the door glided open.
Richard Greene
The Owl had caught up with Richard just as he had gotten to the door of the Library. The door was locked and Air was not standing there waiting for him, like she should have been. Taking the note from the Owl, who had landed on the perch just outside the door, Richard read it and signaled the Owl, that there would be no reply. Apparently, Tarik had needed to talk the Air. Smiling he headed to Tarik's private apartment.
Richard had been thinking all day about this evening. It was Friday and Ari would have someone else watching the Library for the next two days. He had talked her into going with him for a short hike through the hills to look for some plants, Darik had told him about. Before tomorrow came, he was planning on asking Ari to consider letting him talk with Tarik about them being contractually bonded as it was done in their home. He and Ari had discussions in the past about the possibily if their relationship should grow to that point. Richard had decided it had reached the point of asking. The one thing, which made him nervous, was he was not sure Ari felt the same way. Tonight he would find out.
He wasn't worried about what Tarik would say. They were friends and he knew Tarik had at least an idea, how Richard felt about Arianna. Richard was well respected, had a good job, and a good profession to fall back on if anything happened to that job. He had property, admittedly not as much as Arianna's family, but he could make her comfortable and give her anything she wanted. He was not the perfect match if you used the old standards he had read about, but if Arianna was willing to take their relationship to the next step, he was a solid match.
When he reached the door to Tarik's apartments, Richard took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and knocked. His future was on the other side of the door, he was certain.
The first thing, which assaulted Richard's senses as the door swung open, was the tension, which filled the room. This was already strange, because Tarik's apartments never felt like electricity was vibrating through the air. Tark stood not far from Ari, holding a cup of what had to be tea. From the look on his face they had been discussion something very serious. Ari sat in the nearby chair, holding a cup, but making no move to drink any of the strong Egyptian Tea. She would not meet Richards eyes as he walked over to her. Turning slightly so he could see Tarik also, he said, "Maybe I should come back later." Turning to Ari he added, "I can wait outside until you and your brother are finished. I would like to talk to you about something before our walk tomorrow." When she did not even acknowledge he had said something, he said, "Ari, what's wrong. I know I am not part of the family, but I would be willing to help in any way I am needed, you know that." Still she would not look at him.
Richard watched as she looked around him at Tarik. She must have received a yes, because she looked on her lap and picked up a piece of parchment and handed it to him. Richard questioned her with his eyes, but she had already looked away. Richard unfolded the note and read…
Richard's eyes shot to Tarik, who only nodded. He kneeled down at the arm of Ari's chair and took the tea cup out of her shaking hand, placing it on the nearby table. "Ari look at me, please. There has to be a mistake. You are a widow and he is supposed to allow you say so on who you marry or even if you want to get married again…. Ari, look at me."
When she only turned away father, Richard stood up and went to Tarik. Holding the note out which was still clutched in his hand he said, "Amir, do something. He is a dark wizard, so he has no say so correct? He cannot do this…."
Tarik
Tarik looked over at his sister. She had turned completely away from them. Looking at Richard he stood up straighter and add and acted like a prince. His friend was just going to have to understand. He would not give him any false hope. "Khalid has never been prescribed by the Council as being a Dark Wizard. He may associate with members of the Dark Sect, but to tell the truth, that is not an unheard of thing where I come from. Since this ruling has never been made, he remains Head of the Sadiki family and in most ways we are answerer able to his rulings. He cannot force us to do anything illegal, but he can rule on marriages if likes. If he insists on this marriage, Ari will have no choice but to agree." Tarik could not leave his friend with no hope though. "When we find out who the man is we may be able to present a case to the council, but there will have to be reasons why it is a bad idea. I am afraid Richard the majority of them play by the old rules, because they are afraid of what changes may put into place.
Walking over to Ari's chair, and putting his own cup down beside hers, he patted her on the shoulder, saying to Richard, "All we can do now is wait and find out who the man is and how much he desires Arianna as a wife. Arianna will do her duty to the family as we all do."
Arianna
Arianna put her elbow on the arm of the chair and dropped her head into her hand. Tarik was right, she would do her duty to the family. It might not be right in the modern ages, but it was how she was raised. If everyone kept trying t change the time honored rules then chaos would occur, and the new would be council members were not old enough to take the power and hold it.
Slowly she took a deep breath and let it out. Squaring her shoulders, she turned around to look at Tarik and nodded. Then she looked at Richard and a tear dropped from her eye. "Tarik is going to try and break the rule, Richard, but I will have no choice if Khalid insists and whoever the man is decides he wants me." Suddenly Ari got a look in her eye, which said she had an idea, "Of course, the man could decide and be persuaded to drop the contract." She looked at her brother and he shook his head no.
Her eyes dropped. If what she wanted to happen actually occurred, she would bring dishonor on her family. They were just going to have to wait and see. After all, it was a year from the date before she would have to make any possible drastic decision. Arianna looked at Richard and put a small smile on her face. "What did you need to talk about Richard?"
Richard
Richard, who was still standing in the middle of the room, turned and walked over to where Ari sat. He pulled the chair across from her, closer and sat down. Taking her hand in his he looked at Tarik, standing beside the chair then back to Ari. He could not bring up what he was going to, not with all of this happening. He needed to think, "It was nothing special. Just know that I am here for you. This will all work out Ari, it has too. Maybe we can use the help of some of our friends." Bringing up the name of the Caretakers was not an option here, because Tarik was not a member, and Richard was not totally sure how much he knew about that part of his sisters life.
Lifting her hand, which had stopped shaking to his lips he placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. "I will always be here in any way you need me. You know that." Richard looked down and rubbed the back of Ari's hand with his thumb. Maybe if he changed the subject it would help. "I have been able to get a picnic basket made up for morning and the weather is supposed to be fantastic. Darik gave me a map of where we need to go to… you still want to go?" He received a gentle nod. With the notes tonight, he was not sure if she would still agree to walk with him in the morning. "Since nothing can be done tonight and probably not for a few days, how about I walk you down the hall to your rooms and you try and get some rest for tomorrow. It is going to take time to gather more information on the notes."
Tarik
Tarik looked back and forth between the two people seated in front of him. Ari was trying to be brave, but the situation had taken it's toll and she was tired. He realized Richard had something else he had wanted to say, but had thought better of it. Inside Tarik smiled. He knew Richard wanted to be with Ari, and he had just been waiting for the man to ask for her hand. The notes had put a hold on that happening. Tarik had to find a way around Khalid's eidetic.
Richard was correct. Nothing could be accomplished tonight. "Ari, I think Richard has an excellent idea. Go and get some rest and have some fun tomorrow. I will check with a few people and see if we can solve the problem quickly. If we cannot then we will have to look harder for a way around your brother's rulings." Tarik reached down, took Arianna by the elbow and helped her to stand. He looked at Richard and said, "Take her to her rooms, my friend. If you need to stay for a bit with her, I will understand your concern." Under normal circumstances, Ari and Richard would not be alone in Ari's apartments out of respect for the old ways. Tarik had enough of the old ways. Technically Khalid might be her guardian but, at the moment he was the one who was protecting her.
Receiving a nod from Richard, Tarik followed them to the door, kissed his sister on the cheek and nodded to Richard. When they had left, he poured himself another cup of tea and sat in the chair next to the bed. He had some serious thinking to do. For some reason he thought it was not only the contract of Ari to some unknown man, but the fact his brother had come back into their lives at all, was going to be a problem.
(OOC: Part 2: The Great Hall)
CLOSED
(OOC: Combined threads of the previous site)
TARIK SADAKI
Tarik opened the note he had just received via Owl post. It was addressed to him. The first note had another one inside of it addressed to his sister Arianna. He froze when the words became clear. His older brother Khalid, official Head of the family, was informing him that he had contracted for Arianna to be wed in one year to an un-named person.
The council had never declared Khalid as a Dark Wizard, so even know the man had stayed out of their lives for years, he still had the right to decide Arianna's future. She was a widow and thus should have been afforded the curacy to stay unmarried if she wished. Apparently, his brother saw this differently.
Tarik inwardly cringed. He had been patiently waiting for Richard to ask for Arianna's hand in marriage. Now that Khalid had a contract, if he did actually have one, it would not make much difference what Richard did, unless the un-named person agreed to break the contract. Arianna was going to be furious about the whole situation.
Shaking his head he picked up a quill and a piece of parchment and penned a note to his sister, asking her to stop by at her earliest convince. Opening the door to his office he stopped the first house elf walking by and asked if he would please deliver the note to Professor Sadiki in the library. Arianna had taken on the job as librarian to be close to the school and those in it.
(OOC: This thread starts in Tarik's private apartment at Hogwarts. Part 2 takes place in Great Hall.)
Arianna Sadaki
Finally, all the books were put away, the table straightened and the scraps of parchment lying on them were collected. Arianna never through any of these pieces of stray parchment away no matter how crinkled, torn or dilapidated they were, because invariably, one of the students would come in the next day and ask if she had found their class notes.
She had almost reached her desk when the Owl glided through the open window. It placed a piece of parchment on her desk and quickly left. Whoever had sent the note was not expecting an answer. Unfolding the note, she smiled. It was from Tarik. Usually they saw each other to say good night but when she looked at the clock on the wall, it was only 8:00 and Tarik never went to bed before midnight. The man did not seem to need more than four hours sleep to be able to get though a day. The library was closed, for the night so she headed for Tarik's private quarters in the Professor wing of the castle.
Knocking quietly on the door caused it to swing open. "Hello brother, why the note?" she asked as she entered the room. Tarik was standing in the middle of the main area with his hands gasped behind his back. He gave the impression he had been pacing. Arianna did not have a good feeling about this. Normally her brother was very even tempered and took life's hills and valleys with ease. He never paced…. Except for now.
Ari sat in the chair he waved her to, and took the piece of folded parchment he handed her. The seal had not been broken, so he had not written it. Looking at the wax seal she took in a deep breath. It was Khalid's seal. Opening it she read the message, getting angrier by the moment.
"How dare he," she said mostly to herself. Looking at her brother she asked, "Can he do this?" knowing full well he could. "I will not stand for it…. He has no right…. I am a widow and thus should be given the right to choose if I even want to get married again." She had stood up and now she was pacing, "We do not hear from him for years and all of a sudden he has decided to pull his rights as head of the family and marry me off to…." She looked at the note, "he doesn't even say who I am to be married to." Arianna ripped up the note and through it on the floor, where it promptly put itself back together and floated to in front of her, at her waist level. "Oh this is ridiculous," she tore the note again into smaller pieces and through it in the fire, which Tarik always had burning. The pieces floated out of the fire, reassembled themselves and the note floated to in front of her. Staring at it, she grabbed the paper, crumpled it up and stuffed it into her pocket. Glaring at Tarik she said, "I won't do this, Tarik. I flatly refuse." She fell into the chair, because in her heart she knew she would have to follow the law of her land. Her only chance was if the man decided to break the contract. But her brother had not deemed it necessary to let her know who he was.
As Arianna sat in the chair, Richard's face came into her mind. There was nothing romantic between them, at least nothing, you could solidly put your finger on, but still feelings were there. If she accepted Khalid's declaration, then she and Richard would have to go back to being only friends. It would not be fair to either of them to keep the feelings growing as if they had been. Ari looked at her watch. It was 8:30. Richard would have been at the door to the library by now to walk her to the Staff Room for a cup of tea and then to her apartments.
"Tarik can you send an Owl please to the door of the library and give Richard a message to meet me here." Arianna blushed just a little at the look her brother gave her. "Don't look that way you know we go for tea and then he walks me to my rooms." Tarik had nodded and sent the owl. When the owl had left, Ari turned to her brother and with sad eyes asked, "What are we going to do … I do not want to marry someone Khalid chooses."
Tarik
Tarik took the chair across from Arianna in the seating area and tried to comfort her. "I do not know, sister, but we will figure out something. Sasha should be here soon and she was always good at figuring a way out of tight problems."
He could not sit still for long. Again he got up and started pacing, slamming his hands together behind his back. "If we knew who the man was it would help. I have never even had a report of someone who would want to make a contract for you." Pausing he quickly added, "Not that anyone would not be thrilled to have you as a wife, Ari," When he received the half smile, he started to pace again. "I cannot put any pressure on Khalid, because even to contact him and have a meeting, would put me in jeopardy of being thought of as going over to the other side. When I was translating for Daniel Marsden, I had some close calls of being accused of aiding and abetting the enemy."
"I might be able to put some pressure on the man, if I knew who he was. If he had already been prescribed as a Dark Wizard that would take care of the situation immediately. If not maybe there is something else which would satisfy the man's needs to be part of the family."
Tarik walked over and again tried to sit, but after a few seconds, he was up again. He did not think well sitting down. "How about something to drink? I have some Egyptian Tea steeping at the moment." Tarik walked over to the small stove on the back wall of this apartment and made two cups of the very special tea from their homeland. Walking back he handed one to Ari and took a sip. The tea always helped to calm him down. "Maybe we can…." a knock at the door stopped his thought. Waving his hand he said "Enter," as the door glided open.
Richard Greene
The Owl had caught up with Richard just as he had gotten to the door of the Library. The door was locked and Air was not standing there waiting for him, like she should have been. Taking the note from the Owl, who had landed on the perch just outside the door, Richard read it and signaled the Owl, that there would be no reply. Apparently, Tarik had needed to talk the Air. Smiling he headed to Tarik's private apartment.
Richard had been thinking all day about this evening. It was Friday and Ari would have someone else watching the Library for the next two days. He had talked her into going with him for a short hike through the hills to look for some plants, Darik had told him about. Before tomorrow came, he was planning on asking Ari to consider letting him talk with Tarik about them being contractually bonded as it was done in their home. He and Ari had discussions in the past about the possibily if their relationship should grow to that point. Richard had decided it had reached the point of asking. The one thing, which made him nervous, was he was not sure Ari felt the same way. Tonight he would find out.
He wasn't worried about what Tarik would say. They were friends and he knew Tarik had at least an idea, how Richard felt about Arianna. Richard was well respected, had a good job, and a good profession to fall back on if anything happened to that job. He had property, admittedly not as much as Arianna's family, but he could make her comfortable and give her anything she wanted. He was not the perfect match if you used the old standards he had read about, but if Arianna was willing to take their relationship to the next step, he was a solid match.
When he reached the door to Tarik's apartments, Richard took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and knocked. His future was on the other side of the door, he was certain.
"Maybe we can…." a knock at the door stopped his thought. Waving his hand he said "Enter," as the door glided open.
The first thing, which assaulted Richard's senses as the door swung open, was the tension, which filled the room. This was already strange, because Tarik's apartments never felt like electricity was vibrating through the air. Tark stood not far from Ari, holding a cup of what had to be tea. From the look on his face they had been discussion something very serious. Ari sat in the nearby chair, holding a cup, but making no move to drink any of the strong Egyptian Tea. She would not meet Richards eyes as he walked over to her. Turning slightly so he could see Tarik also, he said, "Maybe I should come back later." Turning to Ari he added, "I can wait outside until you and your brother are finished. I would like to talk to you about something before our walk tomorrow." When she did not even acknowledge he had said something, he said, "Ari, what's wrong. I know I am not part of the family, but I would be willing to help in any way I am needed, you know that." Still she would not look at him.
Richard watched as she looked around him at Tarik. She must have received a yes, because she looked on her lap and picked up a piece of parchment and handed it to him. Richard questioned her with his eyes, but she had already looked away. Richard unfolded the note and read…
My dearest Sister,
Last week I received a letter I never thought would arrive. It seems I am about to make you very happy. Yesterday, I signed the contracts betrothing you to a great man. I will not tell you his name at the present, because I want it to be a surprise. You shall be married one year from the date on this letter. The ceremony shall be grand with all of the official trappings of our great house. Please be ready to return to Egypt on the appointed day. I will revel in your happiness.
Your older brother and Head of the Family of Sadiki,
Khalid
Last week I received a letter I never thought would arrive. It seems I am about to make you very happy. Yesterday, I signed the contracts betrothing you to a great man. I will not tell you his name at the present, because I want it to be a surprise. You shall be married one year from the date on this letter. The ceremony shall be grand with all of the official trappings of our great house. Please be ready to return to Egypt on the appointed day. I will revel in your happiness.
Your older brother and Head of the Family of Sadiki,
Khalid
Richard's eyes shot to Tarik, who only nodded. He kneeled down at the arm of Ari's chair and took the tea cup out of her shaking hand, placing it on the nearby table. "Ari look at me, please. There has to be a mistake. You are a widow and he is supposed to allow you say so on who you marry or even if you want to get married again…. Ari, look at me."
When she only turned away father, Richard stood up and went to Tarik. Holding the note out which was still clutched in his hand he said, "Amir, do something. He is a dark wizard, so he has no say so correct? He cannot do this…."
Tarik
Tarik looked over at his sister. She had turned completely away from them. Looking at Richard he stood up straighter and add and acted like a prince. His friend was just going to have to understand. He would not give him any false hope. "Khalid has never been prescribed by the Council as being a Dark Wizard. He may associate with members of the Dark Sect, but to tell the truth, that is not an unheard of thing where I come from. Since this ruling has never been made, he remains Head of the Sadiki family and in most ways we are answerer able to his rulings. He cannot force us to do anything illegal, but he can rule on marriages if likes. If he insists on this marriage, Ari will have no choice but to agree." Tarik could not leave his friend with no hope though. "When we find out who the man is we may be able to present a case to the council, but there will have to be reasons why it is a bad idea. I am afraid Richard the majority of them play by the old rules, because they are afraid of what changes may put into place.
Walking over to Ari's chair, and putting his own cup down beside hers, he patted her on the shoulder, saying to Richard, "All we can do now is wait and find out who the man is and how much he desires Arianna as a wife. Arianna will do her duty to the family as we all do."
Arianna
Arianna put her elbow on the arm of the chair and dropped her head into her hand. Tarik was right, she would do her duty to the family. It might not be right in the modern ages, but it was how she was raised. If everyone kept trying t change the time honored rules then chaos would occur, and the new would be council members were not old enough to take the power and hold it.
Slowly she took a deep breath and let it out. Squaring her shoulders, she turned around to look at Tarik and nodded. Then she looked at Richard and a tear dropped from her eye. "Tarik is going to try and break the rule, Richard, but I will have no choice if Khalid insists and whoever the man is decides he wants me." Suddenly Ari got a look in her eye, which said she had an idea, "Of course, the man could decide and be persuaded to drop the contract." She looked at her brother and he shook his head no.
Her eyes dropped. If what she wanted to happen actually occurred, she would bring dishonor on her family. They were just going to have to wait and see. After all, it was a year from the date before she would have to make any possible drastic decision. Arianna looked at Richard and put a small smile on her face. "What did you need to talk about Richard?"
Richard
Richard, who was still standing in the middle of the room, turned and walked over to where Ari sat. He pulled the chair across from her, closer and sat down. Taking her hand in his he looked at Tarik, standing beside the chair then back to Ari. He could not bring up what he was going to, not with all of this happening. He needed to think, "It was nothing special. Just know that I am here for you. This will all work out Ari, it has too. Maybe we can use the help of some of our friends." Bringing up the name of the Caretakers was not an option here, because Tarik was not a member, and Richard was not totally sure how much he knew about that part of his sisters life.
Lifting her hand, which had stopped shaking to his lips he placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. "I will always be here in any way you need me. You know that." Richard looked down and rubbed the back of Ari's hand with his thumb. Maybe if he changed the subject it would help. "I have been able to get a picnic basket made up for morning and the weather is supposed to be fantastic. Darik gave me a map of where we need to go to… you still want to go?" He received a gentle nod. With the notes tonight, he was not sure if she would still agree to walk with him in the morning. "Since nothing can be done tonight and probably not for a few days, how about I walk you down the hall to your rooms and you try and get some rest for tomorrow. It is going to take time to gather more information on the notes."
Tarik
Tarik looked back and forth between the two people seated in front of him. Ari was trying to be brave, but the situation had taken it's toll and she was tired. He realized Richard had something else he had wanted to say, but had thought better of it. Inside Tarik smiled. He knew Richard wanted to be with Ari, and he had just been waiting for the man to ask for her hand. The notes had put a hold on that happening. Tarik had to find a way around Khalid's eidetic.
Richard was correct. Nothing could be accomplished tonight. "Ari, I think Richard has an excellent idea. Go and get some rest and have some fun tomorrow. I will check with a few people and see if we can solve the problem quickly. If we cannot then we will have to look harder for a way around your brother's rulings." Tarik reached down, took Arianna by the elbow and helped her to stand. He looked at Richard and said, "Take her to her rooms, my friend. If you need to stay for a bit with her, I will understand your concern." Under normal circumstances, Ari and Richard would not be alone in Ari's apartments out of respect for the old ways. Tarik had enough of the old ways. Technically Khalid might be her guardian but, at the moment he was the one who was protecting her.
Receiving a nod from Richard, Tarik followed them to the door, kissed his sister on the cheek and nodded to Richard. When they had left, he poured himself another cup of tea and sat in the chair next to the bed. He had some serious thinking to do. For some reason he thought it was not only the contract of Ari to some unknown man, but the fact his brother had come back into their lives at all, was going to be a problem.
(OOC: Part 2: The Great Hall)
CLOSED